Oregon House panel the fields. But
health advocates say
hears testimony from burning ban
backers as well as opponents
SALEM (AP) — Grass seed
farmers turned out in force to show
their opposition to a bill that
would prevent them from burning
their fields and dispute whether it
contributes to serious health
problems for people with asthma and
emphysema.
‘‘I’ve been burning most
my life,’’ said Eric Bowers, a grass
seed farmer from Harrisburg who said
he has asthma but that he’s never
had an attack due to field burning
smoke. ‘‘I know a lot of old time
guys running around that have been
burning fields for years and haven’t
had any problems.’’
But the House Health Care
Committee also heard from Holly
Higgins, a Harrisburg woman and
field burning opponent who compared
grass seed farmers to cigarette
smokers who don’t
understand the health implications
of subjecting others to their smoke.
‘‘Do I think that (the
farmers) are consciously saying
every time they light a field that
’I may cause permanent lung function
damage to children’? No. But the
medical research is undeniable,’’
she said.
Bill would end burning
The bill would end a
practice used for generations of
grass seed farmers in Oregon to
clear out weeds, pests and prepare
their fields for the next planting.
When farmers burn their fields
during the summer months, columns of
smoke can reach heights of 6,000
feet.
Seed industry officials
said that field burning only
accounts for 2 percent of
particulate emissions in the
Willamette Valley during the summer
field burning season.
Dave Nelson, a spokesman
for the Oregon Seed Council, told
the committee that most of the
remaining emissions were caused by
dust from roads, construction sites,
mining and quarrying and
agricultural tilling.
Grass seed farmers say
that by selectively burning they can
produce some of the purest seeds
available and the practice is
cheaper than using chemicals and
other techniques used to cleanse
that field burning, which has been
significantly scaled back since 1991
when the Legislature restricted the
number of acres that can be burned
to just 65,000 acres, continues to
have a significant impact on nearby
communities.
According to Sen. Vicki
Walker, D-Eugene, who testified in
support of the bill, field burning
may be one reason why Oregon has a
higher asthma rate than the national
average.
‘‘We know we’ve had a
field burning problem for a long
time,’’ said Walker.
Lawmakers in neighboring
Washington and Idaho have nearly
eliminated the practice in their
states.
Study cited
Rep. Paul Holvey, DEugene,
who is sponsoring the bill, said a
recent study from Washington state
found that cost to the public from
increased medication use,
hospitalizations and missed work far
exceeded the cost to farmers to use
alternative methods to burning.
Grass seed is a $500 million-a-year
industry in Oregon and the state
supplies nearly 50 percent of the
global market. Oregon’s mild, wet
winters and dry summers have made it
one of the top producers of the
seeds that are used on golf courses,
soccer fields and lawns around the
world.
The measure would also ban
other types of agricultural burning,
such as the burning of stumps after
Christmas trees are harvested and
the propane flaming of mint fields.
The state would allow but regulate
open burning of agricultural waste.